Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite vs Phi-4-mini vs Qwen-MT Plus
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 78 to 25 and 0 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite
78/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context1.05M
MicrosoftPhi-4-mini
25/100- ECI—
- Price$0.075 / $0.30
- Context128K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-MT Plus
0/100- ECI—
- Price$2.46 / $7.37
- Context16K
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is our pick
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Phi-4-mini (25) and Qwen-MT Plus (0). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest pricePhi-4-miniPhi-4-mini $0.131 · Qwen-MT Plus $3.69 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite unpriced
- Longest contextGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · Phi-4-mini 128,000 · Qwen-MT Plus 16,384 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGemini 2.0 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Phi-4-mini: Text · Qwen-MT Plus: Text
- Self-hostingPhi-4-miniPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite | Phi-4-mini | Qwen-MT Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 90 | 25 | 0 |
| Context window | 40% | 61 | 24 | 0 |
| Overall | 100% | 78/100 | 25/100 | 0/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 2.0 Flash-LiteGoogle | Phi-4-miniMicrosoft | Qwen-MT PlusAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | — | $0.075 (best) | $2.46 |
| Output | — | $0.30 (best) | $7.37 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $0.131 (best) | $3.69 |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Official Azure API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens | 8,192 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | No |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | phi-4-mini | qwen-mt-plus |
| API providers | — | 1 | 1 |
| Released | Dec 11, 2024 | Dec 11, 2024 | Jan 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jun 2024 | Oct 2023 | Apr 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite—
- Phi-4-mini$1.35
- Qwen-MT Plus$39.34
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Phi-4-mini or Qwen-MT Plus?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 78/100 against Phi-4-mini (25) and Qwen-MT Plus (0). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Phi-4-mini or Qwen-MT Plus?
Phi-4-mini is cheaper at $0.075 input / $0.30 output per million tokens (official Azure API price). Qwen-MT Plus costs $2.46 input / $7.37 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.131 per million tokens for Phi-4-mini versus $3.69 for Qwen-MT Plus (28× as much). Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has not been scored yet, Phi-4-mini has not been scored yet and Qwen-MT Plus has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite, Phi-4-mini and Qwen-MT Plus yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen-MT Plus does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 128,000 for Phi-4-mini and 16,384 for Qwen-MT Plus. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite up to 8,192, Phi-4-mini up to 4,096, Qwen-MT Plus up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Phi-4-mini accepts text; Qwen-MT Plus accepts text. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Phi-4-mini publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite and Qwen-MT Plus is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen-MT Plus is the newest, released Jan 2025. Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite came out Dec 11, 2024; Phi-4-mini came out Dec 11, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.0 Flash-Lite Jun 2024, Phi-4-mini Oct 2023, Qwen-MT Plus Apr 2024.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
